


affter effects

by Lithiom



Series: After effects [1]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: M/M, ZaDr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27665858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithiom/pseuds/Lithiom
Summary: (this contains ZADR if you don't like it don't readnone of these characters are mine they belong to jhonen vasquezthe character are 18 in this.this is my first zadr story hopefully it's not to blandI would much appreciate ideas for future chapters.)
Relationships: ZaDr - Relationship
Series: After effects [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022952
Kudos: 5





	1. After effects

**Author's Note:**

> (this contains ZADR if you don't like it don't read  
> none of these characters are mine they belong to jhonen vasquez  
> the character are 18 in this.  
> this is my first zadr story hopefully it's not to bland  
> I would much appreciate ideas for future chapters.)

After effects

It had been years since Dib had that nightmare adventure with Zim that one Halloween night. the awful

nightmare visions that plagued him never went away although they now were in a form of night

terrors. At first, it was only around Halloween that he would get the night terrors but they

quickly escalated as he got older to almost every night, it only got worse through high school as

he was scared to sleep at night.

he began to sink into a depression, the supernatural that he so loved didn't interest him anymore,

he honestly thought that if he stayed away from such things the nightmares would go away, this, of

course, made his father very happy. Even the green alien that he had devoted his life to capturing

has no interest to him anymore. Most of the kids did not notice this change in the crazy kid, they

were just happy that his distracting ramblings stopped. However someone did notice, a certain green

alien had noticed. he had noticed a few months back, what started as dark circles around the

human's eyes gradually got worse until the human pretty much looked like a walking corpse. Zim

noticed that dib's normal bullies didn't even bother him anymore.

this sudden change in dib has piqued Zim's interest making him a bit curious as to what the Dib was

planning if he was planning anything, for all Zim knew he was getting pulled into a false sense of

security before he unleashes a surprise attack. Zim needed to know what he was planning so he

mustered up the courage to confront him.


	2. After effects 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this contains ZaDr if you don't like it don't read  
> none of these characters are mine they belong to jhonen vasquez  
> the character are 18 in this.  
> this is my first zadr story hopefully it's not to bland  
> I would much appreciate ideas for future chapters.)

It was after the final school bell rang that Zim had decided to make his move. He

watches the human closely as dib puts his stuff in his back then puts his headphones in. He didn't

even notice the alien's piercing gaze as he walked by, he just went on his way heading to the exit.

Out of all the things Zim hated being ignored was something he did not take well. He quickly gets

up and goes after the human. "Dib-stink!" he calls out only to get no answer back. He growls and

walks up beside him. "I'm formulating the best plan ever to destroy this filthy planet Dib-worm!

would be a shame if someone tried to foil it since it would be soooo easy too!" he was hoping to

perk the human's interest. He grins a bit then pouts when all he got was a side glance from the

other. He walks in front of the other "oh no! my shoe is untied!" he dramatically pretends to fall

to the ground. "Oh noooo! I'm completely helpless on the filthy ground like this! anyone could just

capture me!" he looks up at the human who only let out a tired sigh and steps over him making Zim

furious. "STOP! IGNORING! ME!" he gets up and pulls on his jacket hood making dib stop and turn

around. he takes a headphone out "you don't even have shoelaces zim...you always wear boots.."

Zim smirks finally happy to get a reaction out of the other "yes well you obviously saw through my

trap!" dib rolled his eyes and shakes his head "you done? can I continue home now?" Zim's eye

twitches "no! that's wrong! why is the dib not chasing me or foiling my evil brilliant plans?!

huh?! huh?! huh?!" dib runs his fingers through his raven hair and sighs " not today zim...zim

just...so tired..." he turns around and continues walking making the small alien very confused

"then get more sleep pathetic human!!" he huffs then thinks, this was wrong why was the human

acting like this? he will have to get to the bottom of this and soon.


	3. After effects 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this contains ZADR if you don't like it don't read  
> none of these characters are mine they belong to jhonen vasquez  
> the character are 18 in this.  
> this is my first zadr story hopefully it's not to bland  
> I would much appreciate ideas for future chapters.)

That night Zim sneaks to Dib's house and perches himself in a tree by the other bedroom window so  
he had a good view inside. The light was still on in his room.  
Zim frowns and checks the time, one o'clock in the morning. "what are you still doing awake human?"  
he mumbles to himself.

Dib was sitting at his desk messing with his computer, it looked like he was typing something. Zim  
watches this go on for a couple of hours before the human finally moves. Dib groans and stretches  
then take his glasses off and rub his bloodshot eyes. He looks at the clock before sighing and  
getting up. Zim tilts his head as he watches the other rummage through a drawer to get a bottle of pills out, the label said Melatonin. His antenna twitch as the human takes a couple before turning the lights off and laying down but sleep does not come quickly as Zim thought. Dib lays in bed staring at the ceiling for half an hour.

Zim squints"what are you doing? why don't you sleep?" he continues to spy until the human finally gives in and closes his eyes. Zim gets a bit closer and presses his face to the window. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until the human begins to move around in his sleep. Zim pays close attention as the other brows furrow and he grits his teeth making Zim stare in confusion. The distressed-looking human mumbles something Zim couldn't hear. His writhing around gets a bit more aggressive before he bolts up in bed with a startled cry also scaring Zim and almost making him fall.

Dib quivers and looks around the dark room frantically before relaxing slightly and putting his hands on his face with a groan. he seemed pretty shaken up and upset. After a few minutes of deep breathing, he looks up at the window. Without his glasses, everything was very blurry but he could still see the unmistakable shapes of two ruby-colored eyes. He cries out and falls off the bed also startling Zim in the process. Dib fumbles around and puts his glasses on "ZIM?!" a loud bang comes from the other side of the wall "Dib! shut the hell up! normal people are trying to sleep!" his sister yells from her room. Dib looks at the wall then looks back at the window where Zim was still staring at the other with wide eyes. Dib groans and gets up then makes his way to the window to open it. "Zim? what are you doing here?" he asks in a harsh whisper. Zim pouts a bit "The Dib has been acting strange Zim wanted to know why so I spied on you." dib pinches the bridge of his nose "you don't give up do you?" Zim blinks "If I tell you why I can't sleep will you leave me alone?" Zim nods "fine...it won't matter anyway you'll just laugh at me like the others." he sits down on the edge of his bed and sighs "you may want to sit down.." Zim huffs and does so on the floor. dib begins to tell the other about why his mood has changed and why he cannot sleep.


	4. After effects 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this contains ZADR if you don't like it don't read  
> none of these characters are mine they belong to jhonen vasquez  
> the character are 18 in this.  
> this is my first zadr story hopefully it's not to bland  
> I would much appreciate ideas for future chapters.)

At first, everything seemed normal after escaping his own head with Zim. He went home and wrote everything down in one of his paranormal journals he kept. he liked to keep track of everything that happened to him.  
The nightmares were at first pretty standard with Zim actually succeeding in taking over the world and what not but they soon turned more sinister and awful. He tells him about the one he has most often and the one that scares him the most.

Dib wakes up lying down in a cold dark room with only one light shining down on him, he couldn't see anything past that. He realizes he was naked as the cold air gave him goosebumps on his pale skin. When he tries to move he couldn't, he was strapped down to a medical table. He looks up into the dark to see a pair of glowing eyes he thought was Zim but he was very wrong. Shock and fear go through his mind as a tall dark figure steps closer, the glowing eyes were actually goggles reflecting the light. It finally hit him who he was seeing, it was his own father.

"So I find you here." his voice echos and bounces off invisible walls sounding like it was coming from all directions, Dib stares in confusion and tries to speak but no sound comes out. Another light comes on and shines down on a small table with surgical tools. Dib begins to struggle but it was no use. His father picks up a scalpel.

"My poor insane son.." he steps closer and touches the cold blade to the flesh on dib's chest. "Let me help....let me fix you with real science." he cuts deeply into Dib's chest and slowly drags the knife down to his abdomen where he stops and pulls the skin apart to reveal the other's organs. Dib tries to scream but again no sound comes out. He could still feel everything, every cut, and movement. He could feel the cold air touching his organs and the warmth of his blood leaving his body and dripping to the floor. He looks up in horror as his father begins ripping his organs out.

Dib always woke up screaming and either immediately got sick or he wasn't able to move at all.  
Zim could see that even talking about this made the other upset by the sick look plastered on his face. Zim scoffs "so..that's it? Zim has been through worse."

Dib looks up and glares "I haven't Zim! I could feel everything that happened! it was like I was actually being cut!" Dib grabs his head and stares at the floor. "maybe everyone is right...maybe I am crazy...maybe I am just seeing things that aren't really there like you.."

Zim pokes the others forehead roughly. "Zim is real, Zim can break your bones to prove it.." he huffs " If the Dib has such bad dream stories then why not ask your father creature for help, he is the smartest of the humans."

Dib sighs "I've tried but the dreams always seem to break through everything I take and dad just tells me that it's scientifically impossible and that I'm just trying to get his attention." he gets up and gets a notebook "I've been writing every dream down in here hoping I can get some kind of answer and maybe get a decent night sleep but I have found out nothing.." he sits back down on the bed " lately the lack of sleep has been giving me hallucinations...even when I'm awake I'm still suffering from the nightmares." he looks up, his amber eyes glisten with tears. "Zim..i'm not sure how long I can keep this up."


	5. After effects 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this contains ZADR if you don't like it don't read  
> none of these characters are mine they belong to jhonen vasquez  
> the character are 18 in this.  
> this is my first zadr story hopefully it's not to bland  
> I would much appreciate ideas for future chapters.)  
> sorry for the weird format, I have a new computer and am still working out the kinks.

Zim could see the pain in dib's eyes and knew that this wasn't some kind of trick. He stares at the other for a moment before speaking. "fine…Zim will help you but not because Zim likes you." He glares

and pokes the human's forehead. "come to Zim's base tomorrow…Zim might have something that will help.." Dib looked a bit confused, zim helping him? What kind of third dimension was this? He

thinks

for a moment, he guessed it was better than suffering through this anymore. "fine…I'm desperate enough to trust you." Zim grins "great! Zim has many ideas to fix this….dream….thing." the alien gets

up

"tomorrow Dib-stink!" he jumps back out the window. Dib sighs and watches him leave "tomorrow.." he lays back down and stares at the ceiling, there were a few questions going around in his head but

he would deal with those when the time comes. When morning comes Dib gets out of bed, rubs his eyes, and sighs a bit. He takes a quick shower and puts on his normal black shirt and jeans then a

hoodie. He walks down the stairs and goes to the front door "im leaving." he was speaking to empty space basically but it was nice to pretend someone cared, made him feel slightly better. He walks the

familiar path to Zim's house but stops in front of the yard. He stares at the lawn gnomes that guard the front yard. He has been attacked many times by these little robots that he was a bit cautious

about

them. He steps onto the lawn and waits for them to move but they don't. He walks

up to the front door and knocks. He waits for a moment before a little green dog cracks the door open then flings it the rest of the way "Hi Mary!" Dib sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose "my

name's not…you know what im not having this conversation with you… **again**." he walks into the base that for years he has tried to break into, now he was being invited. "geez Zim really need to

redecorate…." he looks down at the little robot who was sitting on the gross stained couch eating popcorn kernels "so where is Zim? I was supposed to meet him here today?" Gir looks up at him "oh!

Master is in the laby lab! Doin stuff!" he goes back to looking at the tv Dib raises a brow "okay? Can you go get him? Or show me how to get down there?" Gir grins "yeah! Ovah here!" he gets up and

goes to the oddly placed toilet in the kitchen "no wait zim's evil robot thing! I can't!" he facepalms can't fit down there anymore." he was now a tall lanky teenager, no way would he be able to fit in

there. "There has to be another way down there.." just as he said that a hidden elevator door opens revealing a very irritated-looking alien. "really? All these year and you have forgotten the secret

elevator? years you lost your brain meats?!" Dib crosses his arms "I'm exhausted okay? What do you want from me?" he takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes "now…if you're going to kill me..do it

quick so then maybe I can finally get some kind of rest.." Zim was very quick to come over and pull Dib down to his height so he could look in the other eyes, Zim could look pretty vicious when he

wanted to. "no more of this dying nonsense Dib-worm…Zim said he will help so he will….Irkens never go back on their word.." Dib stared at him in slight shock, Zim was actually serious about helping

him. "alright..fine I will let you help…and no more talking about dying..for now." Zim lets go "good! Now follow zim! There is much to do before the earth star sets!" he grabs Dib's hand and shoves him

into the small elevator then scootches in beside him. Dib had to crouch down a bit "this was a lot easier when I was younger.." Zim looks up at him "yes, yes, so you've gotten a bit taller, but you will

never be as great as the mighty Zim." was that jealousy in his voice? Dib watches zim push a button then felt the elevator begin to go down into the depths of Zim's base where god knows what was

waiting for him.  



End file.
